Leaf Area Duration and Crop Radiation Use Efficiency Determine Biomass Yield of Lignocellulosic Perennial Grasses under Different Soil Water Content

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

This is a very interesting study. The authors evalauted how genotype and irrigation affect productivity of different energy plant species. Overall, this is a well-perfomed work and a well-written manuscript. I only have a couple of minor suggestions:

Table 1. Instead og listing DF and mean square, you can just list the p values for main effects (genotype, irrigation) and their interactions.

line 209: "over twothe growing seasons", potential typo needs correction.

Figure 2: Please add statistical letters to each bar. 

Table 2, 3, and 4: why compare mean values of the 3 irrigation treatments for each species? How about differences among irrigation treatments within each species?

"

Author Response

Thank you for your kind comments. Below you will find the point-by-point response to them.

• Table 1. Instead of listing DF and mean square, you can just list the p values for main effects (genotype, irrigation) and their interactions.

It has been done

• Line 209: "over twothe growing seasons", potential typo needs correction.

It has been corrected.

• Figure 2: Please add statistical letters to each bar. 

It has been done

• Table 2, 3, and 4: why compare mean values of the 3 irrigation treatments for each species? How about differences among irrigation treatments within each species?

The comparison among irrigation treatments within each species has been added

Reviewer 2 Report

Manuscript "Leaf Area Duration and Crop Radiation Use Efficiency Determine Biomass Yield of Lignocellulosic Perennial Grasses Under Different Soil Water Content" may be published subject to review comments.

Sentence "The FPAR at day i was calculated according to:" I suggest from new paragraph.

Sentence "The amount of PAR intercepted by the crop (IPAR) was calculated as follow:" I suggest from new paragraph too.

Please precise biomass sample collection (lines 155-158. Lignocellulosic species were planted at a spacing of 1 x 1 m². The samples were taken from 0.25 m² in 2-3 years after planting. Therefore the question arises whether the soil surface coverage was even?

line 156 Correct bracket (0.25 m²⁾.

What does mean term leaf emission? My proposal is leaf development.

Line 209 need correction (twothe).

Lines 244-250. Please check and correct value. No correspond with data presented in figure 4. In text AGB ranging from 11.71 to 35.1 g per m_2, while in figure 4 up to 4000 g per m².

Figure 3 no units in axis 'y'

Author Response

Thank you for your kind comments. Below you will find the point-by-point response to them.

• Sentence "The FPAR at day i was calculated according to:" I suggest from new paragraph.

The new paragraph has been inserted.

• Sentence "The amount of PAR intercepted by the crop (IPAR) was calculated as follow:" I suggest from new paragraph too.

The new paragraph has been inserted.

• Please precise biomass sample collection (lines 155-158. Lignocellulosic species were planted at a spacing of 1 x 1 m2. The samples were taken from 0.25 m2 in 2-3 years after planting. Therefore the question arises whether the soil surface coverage was even?

An even stem density was achieved in the whole plot for all the combinations of genotype x irrigation and this statement has been added to the materials and methods section.

• Line 156 Correct bracket (0.25 m2).

It has been corrected.

• What does mean term leaf emission? My proposal is leaf development.

The word “emission” has been replaced by “development”.

• Line 209 need correction (twothe).

It has been corrected.

• Lines 244-250. Please check and correct value. No correspond with data presented in figure 4. In text AGB ranging from 11.71 to 35.1 g per m2, while in figure 4 up to 4000 g per m2.

The values have been corrected.

• Figure 3 no units in axis 'y'

The measure is dimensionless since it refers to the fraction of PAR intercepted by the crops